The Port of Houston/Houston Ship Channel is the largest U.S. port based in foreign waterborne tonnage and contributes nearly $10.6B in state and local tax revenue and $62.8B in national tax revenue. Yet, unlike most port cities, its presence is barely noticeable.
St. Paul’s Primetimers will learn more about this phenomenon and contributing factors on Thursday, November 13, when they tour the new Houston Maritime Center and Museum. To be among the group, RSVP and pre-pay $10 for the tour to primetimers@stpaulshouston.org by November 5. The bus will leave the church at 10:30 am Thursday, November 13, and the group will eat a self-pay lunch at Merida Mexican Restaurant after the museum tour.
For more about the museum, read below or the Primetimers November newsletter. Also see this article about the museum’s opening.
On the banks of Buffalo Bayou in the new East River Development, the Houston Maritime Center & Museum opened this summer, but both have prior histories.
Primetimers will visit the Houston Maritime Center and Museum on Thursday, November 13. Board the church bus at 10:30am. To reserve your spot and pre-pay $10 for the tour, please email primetimers@stpaulshouston.org by November 5.
The Center, established in 2000, evolved from a small museum in a house on Dorrington that reflected founder and naval architect James “Jim” L. Manzolillo’s unique experiences, personality, and lifelong association with the ocean.
By being on Buffalo Bayou where Houston was founded, the new site celebrates the city’s maritime connection with the world.
Presenting history, arts, culture, and sciences through a maritime lens, the center’s collection navigates a voyage through the nautical world with extensive exhibits, models, and artifacts, emphasizing interactive experiences bringing the collection to life with an emphasis on Texas. Special features include:
Lighthouse Influences: The major modalities of waterway travel and commerce anchored by a representation of the Bolivar Lighthouse at the entrance of the Houston Ship Channel.
Modern Maritime: Overview of 90% of the world’s goods transported by the sea and the global supply chain
Navigation Station: Interactive exhibit station offering the experience of piloting a vessel.
All Hands on Deck: A multi-sensory STEAM approach to maritime navigation, communication, ecology, and logistics.
In the shadows of downtown Houston, the East River Development site is not only where Houston was founded, but throughout much of the 20th century until 2010, it was occupied primarily by Kellogg, Brown & Root, which played a major role in the developent of Houston. And, until the Galveston hurricane of 1900, a cottonseed oil mill owned by William Marsh Rice was among entities on the site.
To prepay$10 for the tour and reserve your spot on the bus leaving from St. Paul’s at 10:30 am on Thursday, November 13, please email primetimers@stpaulshouston.org by Wednesday, November 5.